Supes Put Measure C Cart before Horse
At their March 17 meeting, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors received a presentation for a proposal backed by Chair Garry Bredefeld (District 4) and his MAGA Republican allies to replace Measure C. The proposal is a reactionary response to, and attempt to thwart, the consensus plan developed through the official Measure C renewal process, now a citizens’ initiative called “Better Roads, Safe Streets,” a plan Bredefeld has openly vowed to defeat.
Measure C, Fresno County’s half-cent transportation sales tax, was first approved in 1986 and renewed by voters in 2006. It funds roads, highways and transit projects countywide and is set to expire in early 2027. Its pending expiration triggered a multiyear renegotiation process led by the Fresno Council of Governments (COG) and a community steering committee.
In 2025, that process expanded beyond the usual circle of insiders. County mayors, labor representatives, community organizations and advocates participated in a robust series of public meetings and polling efforts—a direct response to the failed 2022 early renewal attempt, which had been crafted largely behind closed doors and rejected by voters.
The 2025 process produced a plan supported by a majority of the negotiating team. It balanced road repair, public transit, street safety and regional investment. But it never reached the Board for final approval.
Bredefeld, a member of one of the negotiating teams, repeatedly and publicly reviled fellow participants as “left-wing lunatics,” called meetings “shit-shows” and condemned the plan’s public transit components. His position was heated and obdurate—he pledged to “make sure it failed.” With his allies, he succeeded in preventing the plan from advancing. It can still appear on the November ballot as a citizens’ initiative through signature gathering, which is the current path for “Better Roads, Safe Streets.”
Bredefeld’s alternative plan, called “Fix Our Roads Fresno,” attempts to reset the process, sideline the coalition behind the 2025 proposal and revive a narrower, pothole-focused approach—one that risks repeating the mistakes that led voters to reject the measure in 2022. It appears to have little support outside its authors, while “Better Roads, Safe Streets” has broad backing from mayors, elected officials and community groups. Both proposals must now qualify for the November ballot via the citizens’ initiative process.
On March 17, Mike Leonardo (former executive director of the Fresno County Transportation Authority and one of the “Fix Our Roads” crafters) presented the “Fix Our Roads” proposal to the Board, giving the appearance of Board endorsement. No representative from “Better Roads, Safe Streets” had been invited to present. Bredefeld later claimed “the other side” had an “open invitation” to present, but his disingenuousness was striking considering his past behavior, and his “fairness signaling” fooled no one.
Much of Leonardo’s presentation consisted of attacks on public transit, investment in which he framed as “throwing money at it.” He talked about “reimagining” public transit—per this plan, “reimagined public transit” is calling an Uber, which he suggested was an example of “thinking outside the box.” Leonardo said his plan allowed “more for roads,” while everything else was “waste.” He used rhetorical tricks designed to get anxieties flowing: the other plan “abandons” highways, would lead to scary “LA-style” congestion, and the like.
District 5 Supervisor Nathan Magsig’s rhetoric also provoked anxieties: he asked if the “competing plan” would “force” the County to “tear down bridges” just so they could be rebuilt with bike lanes. Magsig invented other scary possibilities about “the other side”—if there are more bike lanes, bike riders will have countless accidents and will “sue the County all the time.” He urged Leonardo to “talk about that!”
District 1 Supervisor Brian Pacheco appeared to have had enough and asked in an exasperated tone if this plan had qualified for the ballot yet—if not, we are “wasting time,” he said. Leonardo said that neither measure had yet qualified. “Then you are putting the cart before the horse,” responded Pacheco.
Bredefeld chimed in with support for the plan presented and said the “other measure” is sponsored by “a bunch of radicals”—he even alleged that a fellow Republican, Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, called them “crazies.” But Mouanoutoua unequivocally supports “Better Roads, Safe Streets” and was in fact alluding to Bredefeld’s own slurs, when on March 16 the Clovis City Council endorsed “Better Roads, Safe Streets” with a 4-1 vote. Mouanoutoua and Council Member Lynne Ashbeck each delivered a diplomatic but stinging takedown of both Bredefeld and his slavish ally, Clovis Council Member Diane Pearce.
Continuing his harangue in an intense and volatile manner, Bredefeld recycled his worn-out arguments and recapitulated familiar name-calling: his opponents want to “get people out of their cars! They hijacked the steering committee! They punted to the radicals! It’s a scam, and if it’s on the ballot I will do all I can to let people know it’s a scam! People only want the roads fixed! We’ll be forced to ride buses! We’ll be forced to ride bikes!” Bredefeld’s all-or-nothing thinking makes progress, not to speak of compromise, impossible.
District 4 Supervisor Buddy Mendes, aligning with Bredefeld, made predictions, casting speculative catastrophic outcomes as foreseeable consequences: If his side should not prevail, there would be embezzlement and “kangaroo” oversight—it would be a “dumpster fire!”
Registrar of Voters James Kus was present to speak about the steps for getting either plan on the November ballot. He said that both plans were eligible to circulate petitions and that 22,000 signatures for each must reach his office by Aug. 7.
Bracing for Effects of HR 1: “The Big Ugly Bill”
Major changes in public health, behavioral health and social services will be felt starting in April this year. Department heads outlined how HR 1 (to MAGA Republicans, “The One Big Beautiful Bill”) will significantly affect the County, particularly in healthcare and social services. The estimated annual budget loss ranges from $68 million to $294 million in federal funding.
A central concern is a sharp increase in uninsured residents. Between 11,000 and 30,000 people could lose Medi-Cal coverage, shifting them into the County’s legally required indigent care system. With funding already inadequate, Fresno County could face tens to hundreds of millions in new obligations to provide basic care to low-income residents, Public Health Director Joe Prado explained.
Administrative and fiscal pressures are also expected to intensify. Department of Social Services (DSS) Director Sanja Bugay said new federal requirements would expand eligibility evaluations and impose work requirements, increasing staff workload and the risk of costly errors and penalties. Behavioral Health Director Susan Holt warned that her department would lose revenue while taking on more high-acuity cases.
There was not much discussion, despite the gravity of the matter. Supervisor Luis Chavez (District 3) remarked that “‘The Big Ugly Bill’ gets uglier.”
End Times?
Toward the March 17 meeting conclusion, Bredefeld used the “Supervisor Reports and Comments” period to impose religion on the public: “Ya know, we have a war going on now with I-ran…I wanted to just recognize the 13 service members killed.” Using formulaic praise, he named each one, then asked Magsig to pray. Both seemed eager to insert scriptural authority into a civic setting. Magsig prayed, “Heavenly father, the Bible says there will be conflict constantly in the Middle East…in Jesus’ name.” Was Magsig, a fervent fundamentalist, alluding to the Christian Nationalist obsession with apocalyptic “End Times,” associated with wars in the Middle East and the “second coming” of Jesus?
Bredefeld then pivoted sharply from mourning to grievance, to vehemently denounce and blame the governor for the parole of two individuals convicted of sex crimes, calling for their death or life imprisonment. Public records show that Newsom opposed the parole decisions and that both individuals had already been returned to custody.
Name Changes at Special Meeting
A special meeting was held on March 23. There was one agenda item, brought by Bredefeld: change “Cesar Chavez Day” to “Agriculture Appreciation Day.” Again, Bredefeld asked Magsig to give an invocation: “Lord, we are here today to do your business…in Jesus’ name I pray.” Supervisor Chavez was absent but requested that to the originally suggested name, “Farmworker” be added.
Several members of the public spoke movingly about the pain they felt in the wake of the news about Cesar Chavez; one asked that “Farmworker” appear at the beginning of the full new name—he talked about unity between farmworkers and ranchers and “not being like this crazy president we have.” Magsig agreed about the “both needing each other” part, and all supes in fact, to their credit, concurred. The name of the holiday—per Board agreement, “Fresno County Farmworker and Agriculture Appreciation Day”—applies to Fresno County via a salary resolution, as clarified after Pacheco raised questions about conflict with the state holiday name.
The supervisors showed unusual sensitivity to victims of Cesar Chavez’s sexual predation; Magsig said the name change should happen now to avoid “re-victimizing” them on March 31 when the holiday comes and “it’s still in the salary resolution as Cesar Chavez Day.”
Why did no one suggest naming the holiday “Dolores Huerta Day?” And why did the Board show such haste and eagerness to side with victims in this case, while the same zeal has not applied to more conspicuous figures, such as convicted rapist Donald J. Trump?
April 7 Meeting Highlights
- A consultant will audit the Department of Social Services (DSS) following complaints of foster-child abuse and neglect.
- The Board approved an amendment to the ordinance code prohibiting the use of human compost on land in unincorporated areas, despite evidence of safety presented by a rep from Earth Funeral (Auburn, Wash.).
- James Kus alerted voters that the June primary election will feature a two-card ballot.
- Bredefeld disclosed that he has a twin—he’s a tax accountant in Malibu.
